PUNE, March 25: The financial loss is not estimated, but it could easily run into crores of rupees for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) just because it does not have its own rules and rates for octroi. Ironically, octroi constitutes nearly 70 per cent of the annual budgetary income for the PCMC.The present rates of octroi charged on various items by the PCMC are those which are applicable to the municipal councils in the state as per the octroi rules framed in 1968. The rules were applicable when the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Council was in existence between 1971 and 1982 during which it was the richest municipal council not only in the country, but in Asia as well.The fact that even after the formation of the municipal corporation, there are no separate rules regarding octroi rates, came to light recently when an old file was found in the octroi department. The file contained only the covering letter of the octroi rules approved by the State Government, but the rules were missing.According to chief octroi superintendent Kishoreraje Nimbalkar, the draft rules for octroi rates were framed in 1985 and were approved by the civic general body meeting in July 1986. They were then sent to the State Government for approval. It government approved the rules on September 21, 1991, and the formal letter was sent to the corporation on September 30. The rules were required to be published in the state official gazette before they came into force. The octroi staff checked through all the gazettes published between 1991 and 1995, but they found that the octroi rules have not been published.Nimbalkar told the civic general body meeting held last week that they have no idea whether the rules were sent by the State Government at all.The PCMC has an octroi rate list in which octroi for 86 various items have been mentioned. According to the authorities in the octroi department, the municipal corporation cannot go in for any hike in the rates because the corporation does not have the right to do so. The rates could be changed only if the corporation had its separate set of rules approved earlier by the State Government. Incidentally, when the corporation had decided to slash octroi on liquor from seven per cent to five per cent in 1992 to induce the liquor traders to pay octroi, the proposal to this effect was sent to the State Government and was approved only as a special case.Officials are hoping for a new set of rules framed independently by the PCMC. The corporation's task would be much easier if a copy of the approved list is found in the state urban development department. The officials could not make any guesses about the financial loss that the corporation incurred because of the old octroi rates.In comparison, as the Pune Municipal Corporation has its own set of rules regarding octroi, the rates on various items are much higher than those in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Officials in the corporation attribute the recent surge in PMC octroi revenue to the high rates of octroi in Pune.Nearly 70 per cent ofoctroi comes from various industries and recession haas hit the octroi , authorities maintain.
